Questions about Safari Ltd

Today I've purchased one of Safari's older leopard:
Those who have it: Did I make a mistake or is this figure good enough to keep?
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Gabe,you can never make mistakes when it comes to figurines!Every new one is nice!

Perhaps you're right... I'll judge it as soon as it comes.

It looks nice, perhaps ask Gab, he collects Safari ltd and I'm sure he has this model.

Thanks for the advice, Harriet. But I guess I should be patient a bit to examine the figure personally. I'm so impatient...

Looks beautiful, but I don't have it so I can't tell you either.

Looks good in your photo Torben.

HKHollinstone wrote:

Looks good in your photo Torben.

Thanks Harriet,

but i will try to make a better photo.

Wow! Thanks so much, Torben!
Now I know what to expect!

I think you just made a good hunting, Gabe.

What a great model.

Congratulations on your find

Thank you, Rio and Lasersword1973! It's my very first 'retired' one!

Gabe wrote:

Thank you, Rio and Lasersword1973! It's my very first 'retired' one!

I think you will like it! the retired one look better.

This is mine!

With New paint on latest version

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Got it today - I was disappointed to discover that the figure lacks the quality and realism I expect.
Never going to buy old figures (not from Safari Ltd. at least)

Gabe wrote:

Got it today - I was disappointed to discover that the figure lacks the quality and realism I expect.
Never going to buy old figures (not from Safari Ltd. at least)

That's a shame, sorry you were disappointed with it Gabe.

This is my problem too, Gabe. Since I am also buying my stuffs most of the time on line, everything is a gamble to me too. But one thing I have learned, when in comes to the big cats, I have always put my money to the Papo without any doubt needed. If I am not sure, I normally look out for other people's suggestions and recommendations first.

Too bad that you didn't like what you just had. I know how it feels too. It was the same feelings when I purchased my very first Safari Ltd's Giraffe, Camel, Baboon with the baby and I forgot what else. I was totally upset when I first saw them.

I am not saying Safari Ltd's figure isn't that good. But I am very careful now in choosing their figures. I guess I am still stick to my plan that I will only buy their Wings of the World and nothing else... At least for now.

Too bad. Sorry to hear that you don't like it. It looks like it would be a great one.

Thanks for your um... consolations(?)
I feel OK now - it costed me only $5; not a big deal. However, I'll definitely buy Safari's cape buffalo (with the birdies on top) and their hyena. I thing they look good both in catalog pix and reality.

Gabe wrote:

Thanks for your um... consolations(?)
I feel OK now - it costed me only $5; not a big deal. However, I'll definitely buy Safari's cape buffalo (with the birdies on top) and their hyena. I thing they look good both in catalog pix and reality.

I believe the Cape Buffalo is one of their best figures but I don't like the uneven legs. For me the new Papo's Cape Buffalo is still the best Cape Buffalo ever made (at least in this recent years).

If you are referring to their old Hyena, then don't buy it. I already made a terrible mistake from buying that, don't follow me.

you mean this hyena? (and what do you mean "uneven legs" in the buffalo?)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Gabe wrote:

you mean this hyena? (and what do you mean "uneven legs" in the buffalo?)
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Yes, exactly. This Hyena is totally for a kids to play and not for an adult individuals to collect. The Buffalo's legs is not very strong as the Schleich and the Papo's. But still a very descent addition though. Although the White Wolf is a good one but a little big in size. I am sorry that I couldn't take any pictures because they are not with me now. But I am serious to say, the Hyena is a no no.

Thanks for telling me that! Guess I'll have to wait till Papo or Schleich would come up with a decent looking hyena.

Concerning the buffalo, did you mean that the plastic is soft in the legs section? is this what you meant? or is it less "muscular-looking"?

Concerning the buffalo, did you mean that the plastic is soft in the legs section? is this what you meant? or is it less "muscular-looking"?[/quote]

Both actually.


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]


[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Gabe wrote:

Thanks for telling me that! Guess I'll have to wait till Papo or Schleich would come up with a decent looking hyena.

Concerning the buffalo, did you mean that the plastic is soft in the legs section? is this what you meant? or is it less "muscular-looking"?

Mine has no soft legs .

Actually, the legs of my safari are harder than the legs of my Schleich buffalo.

I love the one on the far right Kiki, what make is that, Lineol? I wish I could own the Schleich one, but I guess it's pretty expensive to buy now.

HKHollinstone wrote:

I love the one on the far right Kiki, what make is that, Lineol? I wish I could own the Schleich one, but I guess it's pretty expensive to buy now.

The one on the right is a Lineol, you are right Harriet

About the Schleich, don't be worried about the price... Sometimes it is really expensive, but if you have good eyes and time, you still can find it without problems with your banker.

So, if you need more pics about the 2008 Safari's Cape buffalo, go here : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I stand myself corrected. What I meant is, it's too soft looking for an African Cafe Buffalo Bull. Not in the soft plastic I am trying to say, but in appearance wise. By the way, your Lineol Buffalo is so cool, Christophe.
It reminds me of our Philippine Carabao that's being used in rice farming in the older days.

The Papo's African Buffalo is so much better. But I am not saying, you don't buy nor collect the Safari Ltd's Buffalo. As a matter of fact, it is also good. But if you are looking for the better looking one, the Papo Buffalo is the best buffalo in the market so far. Well, that's entirely in my opinion only though.

Lasersword1973 wrote:

I stand myself corrected. What I meant is, it's too soft looking for an African Cafe Buffalo Bull. Not in the soft plastic I am trying to say, but in appearance wise. By the way, your Lineol Buffalo is so cool, Christophe.
It reminds me of our Philippine Carabao that's being used in rice farming in the older days.

The Papo's African Buffalo is so much better. But I am not saying, you don't buy nor collect the Safari Ltd's Buffalo. As a matter of fact, it is also good. But if you are looking for the better looking one, the Papo Buffalo is the best buffalo in the market so far. Well, that's entirely in my opinion only though.

Ok, I see what you mean Ron. You are right, it's a SAFARI's "curse" . The angle of the ankle is always a bit "lazy" on hoofed animals.

And the SCHLEICH curse is they stand straight but they are too chubby...

The LINEOL curse is they are nearly perfect but old... and expensive !

Of course the 2010 PAPO's buffalo is a gem but I can't resist to a good Cape buffalo

I think, all manufactures have their advantages and faillures.
In this case we talk about the leopard, and not the Cape Buffalo.
The buffalo was good, in all cases actually, with some minor things...
But the leopard was not good IMHO, specially the colours and spots are not very well.
But as i always say, when you collect, you want them all, and there are worser models in this business, on all animal-species...

TigerStrike wrote:

Got it today - I was disappointed to discover that the figure lacks the quality and realism I expect.
Never going to buy old figures (not from Safari Ltd. at least)

I share pretty much the same opinion.

Thanks Kyrill! :)
I guess, you can bend the legs of this Cape-Buffalo in the right position, warm them up with a hair-dryer, and quickly cool them off with cold water, this must do the trick to get them in the right position...

WILLYBACOMAN wrote:

Thanks Kyrill! :)
I guess, you can bend the legs of this Cape-Buffalo in the right position, warm them up with a hair-dryer, and quickly cool them off with cold water, this must do the trick to get them in the right position...

It's too bad fro Ron Cape buffalo but they are not all like that, mine is straight on his four legs and the quality is at least as good as the Schleich...

TigerStrike wrote:

Got it today - I was disappointed to discover that the figure lacks the quality and realism I expect.
Never going to buy old figures (not from Safari Ltd. at least)

What kind of old figures are you talking about Gabe ? I know models older than me, like Lineol, which still can give lessons to 2010 models.

But if you are talking about retired models from modern companies, Safari is not worse than the European manufacturers.

The younger papo have still some problems with zebras and dromaderies I think.

Schleich ? : Well, the safari leopard is not worse than the old giraffes, orang-utan or even leopard !

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Thank you Torben for the pic

It's okay. Because Safari Ltd is not my favorite after all. I have mentioned many times here that I only collect their Wings of the World Series from them after numerous of unrealistic animal figures I have gotten from them before.


But I must admit that all of these toy companies hace thier own weaknesses too. Just that my bad luck always fall with the Safari Ltd's wildlife.

Like for example, I received my Eating Giraffe from the CollectA last weekend. And I am very disappointed with the paintings done to it. I considered buying that because I thought the bad paintings is only in the photo but actually it also applied in the actual appearance of that Giraffe.

Well, bad catalog photos are very common with many of the Papo's figures but it turn out that it's actually good in actual appearance.

So, I promised myself that I won't ever buy any of the Safari Ltd's figure again other that WOW series unless they will improve their quality especially their painting jobs part.

Despite all of the weaknesses in some manufacturers, i do love the older models too, as they have their charms too, even when they are not realistic as they could be...
And i like complete series to collect, not only a few of them...

I'm sorry you weren't pleased with your retired leopard figure. Wild Safari figures were originally supposed to basically be cheaper, far less expensive toys for children to play with and beat up on. In many cases, they were not much better than the cheap, bargain-bin figures from China. Their "museum" collections and authenticated figure lines, however, spared little in the way of accuracy, and their costs reflected it. The Carnegie Collection, Monterey Bay Aquarium Collection, Vanishing Wild, Tennessee Aquarium Salamanders, Baltimore Aquarium Poison Dart Frogs - they still rank as some of the best figures available. Some are in desperate need of updated molds or have been retired this long time, but they were really nice and very high quality (did I mention very expensive for their day, too?). So when purchasing Safari, you need to keep in mind what the figures were intended for. Wild Safari figures were, for the most part, not taken seriously, but were for quick production and point of sale retail. Safari didn't put much quality behind them. Nowadays, their Wild Safari figures are catching up to the quality their museum lines used to hold exclusively, but then again, the museum lines continue to improve quality every year!

sphyrna18 wrote:

I'm sorry you weren't pleased with your retired leopard figure. Wild Safari figures were originally supposed to basically be cheaper, far less expensive toys for children to play with and beat up on. In many cases, they were not much better than the cheap, bargain-bin figures from China. Their "museum" collections and authenticated figure lines, however, spared little in the way of accuracy, and their costs reflected it. The Carnegie Collection, Monterey Bay Aquarium Collection, Vanishing Wild, Tennessee Aquarium Salamanders, Baltimore Aquarium Poison Dart Frogs - they still rank as some of the best figures available. Some are in desperate need of updated molds or have been retired this long time, but they were really nice and very high quality (did I mention very expensive for their day, too?). So when purchasing Safari, you need to keep in mind what the figures were intended for. Wild Safari figures were, for the most part, not taken seriously, but were for quick production and point of sale retail. Safari didn't put much quality behind them. Nowadays, their Wild Safari figures are catching up to the quality their museum lines used to hold exclusively, but then again, the museum lines continue to improve quality every year!

You are right IMHO. The wild Safari animals or dinosaurs improved a lot on the last years and Sfari is able to produce some of the finest models amoung the major companies

hey guys

i have a question about the SAFARI-collection called "Incredible Creatures". i think these are really very excellent figures, but aren't they bigger than similar SCHLEICH models?
could anyone please post a picture with both SAFARI IC and SCHLEICH figures on it to compare the scales?

i'm thinking about buying some models of this collection, as it contains some very interesting and rare species that are not to find as toy models very often (pelican eel ^^, lots of reptiles...) :)

thank you

Oooh, yes, I would like to know, too !!!

There are the flying squirrel, the pangolin (pine cone ), red-eared turtle, and, and...SOOO many fantastic figueres

I can't post pics of them but I can tell they are BIGGER than SCHLEICH.

Some are soft and other hardplastic.

Ooops ! I have two pics of the armadillo with the Schleich one.

Oh That is very big

Thanks, Christophe

SUSANNE wrote:

Oh That is very big

Thanks, Christophe

YES ! But it is awesome

Yes, I can see that
Sorry, amadillo, I think you are really fine, just look at the deatil in the feet !

The flying squirrel is here, by the way :
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

incredible creatures usually produced very fine product and good details. the only things is "size matter". unless you are not particular.

Do they still make Incredible Creatures?

I will have to start looking for them. Great detail!

Suebeedo wrote:

Do they still make Incredible Creatures?

I will have to start looking for them. Great detail!

They are in the catalogue , so I suppose it is just a question of finding them

WOW, if you start collecting them, I can`t wait to see you sending pictures

Here is a link where you can see a new ringtailed lemur model.Is it made by Safari?
There is also the old lemur underneath,which appears on their official site.No clue about the more realistic one,though.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Wow, why is that one $15.50 on sale??? The other one is $3.50...they don't describe it either giving size measurements. That is strange...sorry I'm no help.

Suebeedo wrote:

Wow, why is that one $15.50 on sale??? The other one is $3.50...they don't describe it either giving size measurements. That is strange...sorry I'm no help.

Really strange about the price
But it is a nice lemour